Something Like That
by SkinwalkerSkiddo
Summary: Kinkmeme Prompt Fill. Daryl gets hurt and Rick has to hold him down while they doctor on him. Daryl is surprisingly okay with this. Loads of h/c and smut.


_AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is a Kinkmeme fill for this prompt: twd-kinkmeme . livejournal 5396 . html?thread=7927316#t7927316_

_There's been a little time stretch between the group escaping Terminus and arriving at Gabriel's church. And I want you all to know that I hatehatehate mouth-related trauma and such but I did a lot of research on dentistry in the 1800s and watched a couple of people on youtube get teeth pulled for this so I hope you guys appreciate my suffering._

_The bit about Bob resting his knee on Daryl for leverage is based on a true story of a tooth extraction a friend of mine witnessed a few years ago. Thankfully the patient (who was conscious) was outrageously loopy on a good dose of happy gas and thought it was hysterical._

_—_

Daryl had a toothache.

A really fucking godawful_nightmare_of a miserable toothache.

One of his back molars had been bothering him since back at the prison. And now his jaw, neck, and all the way up to the top of his fucking head was throbbing and he knew he wouldn't be able to stand it for much longer. He had a pretty damn high tolerance for pain but he just felt hot and tired and_wrong_all over. He couldn't hunt like this, couldn't provide for or protect his family when his skull felt like a freight train was repeatedly plowing through it.

They had all just barely escaped the horrors of Terminus thanks to Carol—Carol, Christ was she a sight for sore eyes—and once they had all been reunited with Tyreese and Ass Kicker Rick, Carl, and Sasha's smiles and tears of happiness had been more than enough to take his mind off the throbbing red hot ache in his jaw for a while.

But now, a day later and miles deeper into the woods, Daryl was feeling sick and feverish and after the third time he stumbled over his own feet and nearly fell on his damn face he knew it couldn't wait any longer.

_Goddammit all._

"Rick."

After catching the other man's attention he hung back until they were bringing up the rear of the group. All was silent but for the crunch of leaves and twigs under their boots and after a few moments Rick sidled closer and bumped their shoulders together as they walked. He held a sleeping Judith close against his chest.

"You alright?"

Daryl reached out to stroke his thumb against the little girl's downy hair before he drew up his courage and met Rick's concerned gaze.

"I need your help with something,"

—

They were miles and miles from anything but woods and walkers and railroad tracks that led to flames and death so they set up camp early for the night on top of a steep bluff that looked over a river running deep in the forest.

Rick squeezed Daryl's shoulder in silent encouragement to stay still and hold his sore mouth open while he and Carol and Bob shone a dangerously dim flashlight in and looked for the cause of his pain.

Carol gently tapped her fingernail against his lower right canine, then the premolar behind it, then back, back, back and then he damn near bit her finger when she hit the bad tooth.

And with his mouth wide open he couldn't quiet the pathetic little whine at the pain that shot through his jaw. His cheeks heated with embarrassment.

"That doesn't sound too good."

"_No shit, Sherlock,_" is what Daryl intended to snap at Bob for the fucking obvious observation but it came out more of a garbled growl with Carol's fingers back prodding around in his mouth.

"It's your molar in the very back and it looks like it really needs to come out. The sooner the better," said Carol with a sympathetic grimace.

"Can't we wait until we find some place a little more secure? Hell we should at least try to track down some damn painkillers for him." Rick gripped his shoulder harder and Daryl appreciated the grounding contact.

Bob took the flashlight, tapped it against his palm until the bulb flickered a fraction brighter, and then took Carol's place to get a better look into Daryl's mouth. He frowned and made a sound that Daryl did not find the least bit encouraging.

"She's right, Rick. It should have come out already. If we leave it any longer the infection could spread to his bloodstream and we sure as hell aren't equipped to deal with sepsis." He reached up and pressed the back of his hand against Daryl's forehead. Daryl fought to not jerk away and instead leaned more of his weight back against Rick's steadying touch.

"He's already got a fever. That tooth needs to come out right now. Carol, you got anything we can use?"

She had her hands on her hips and was looking at Daryl with grim expression.

"I've got a basic first aid kit with plenty of gauze and antiseptic. And I've got a pair of pliers in my pack," she added, almost apologetically.

"Got a swiss army knife? Or a tiny flat-head screwdriver? I'll need something to use as an elevator instrument to loosen up the ligaments first."

Carol nodded and pulled a small red Victorinox knife from her shirt pocket.

Bob smiled. "Perfect. Daryl you ready for this?"

Daryl sucked in a breath to steady his nerves. Of all the fucking things, he was gonna be laid out by it had to be a damn tooth.

Fuck.

"Let's quit blabbing about it and get it the hell over with already."

The heat of Rick's calloused thumb rubbing against his neck under his hair got his attention and he looked at the other man.

"Before we get started I'm gonna make sure everyone is settled in and that they've got the perimeter fence up. I'll be right back."

Daryl nodded and as soon as Rick and then Carol had their backs turned he snatched Bob's arm and stared him down with a fierce and dead serious expression. "You good for this?"

There was a cloud of memory that darkened the other man's eyes for just a blink-and-you-miss-it-moment, a flashback of how his addiction and short-comings had caused so much hurt in the past. But he was a new man now and he held Daryl's gaze with confidence and nodded.

"Don't forget, I was a combat medic. I've patched up way worse than this. We'll have you giving the squirrels a run for their nuts again in no time," he added with an all too cheery grin.

Daryl grunted in reply and slumped back with a sigh to watch Carol as she dug through her pack and first aid kit, setting out what they would need for the procedure. Someone had dug a shallow pit and started a low fire in the middle of where the others were setting up camp for the night and she had a little pot of water set over it that was just starting to bubble.

When she realized his eyes were on her Carol stood and walked over to hand him a tiny, half-empty flask with an encouraging smile before she went back to scrubbing the knife and pliers clean with a few antiseptic wipes before dumping them into the boiling water for a little extra sterilization. Daryl figured you couldn't be too damn cautious with all the walker blood and guts going around and considering those shiny sharp metal things were about to go digging around in his mouth he appreciated that.

Bob had his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows and he took the remaining wipes when Carol was finished and scrubbed his hands with them, taking surgeon's care to clean around his cuticles and the webbing of his fingers especially well.

Daryl was quick to swallow the meager amount of whiskey in the flask Carol had given him to push down the bile he felt building in his throat. There was no way in hell the booze would be nearly enough to dull anything but he would take whatever help he could get to settle his nerves.

The rest of the group was still busy settling in for the evening, opening a few cans of food and rolling out the handful of sleeping packs they had scrounged up in the cabin near Terminus, but Daryl could feel all of their eyes on him and it made his already hot skin prickle with nervous sweat.

_Goddammit all._

This was going to be bad enough without a damn audience but there was fuck all he could do about that now. Should have had Hershel or Caleb pull the stupid thing out back at the prison when it first started giving him trouble but he just had to be a hard-headed dumbass and wait until now of all damn times.

Rick came back after checking in on Carl and Judith and sat down on the log beside Daryl. He pressed their shoulders together and and reached out to wrap his fingers around Daryl's upper thigh before he caught his eye.

"You are gonna be_fine_."

Rick acted like he wasn't giving Daryl a choice in the matter and he latched on to that confidence and leaned back against Rick's side.

Still. He knew this was going to fucking hurt.

It fucking hurt alright.

They had started out with Bob and Carol standing behind him while he sat on the log, the easiest way to reach his bottom molar but when Bob first touched the tooth with the reamer from the swiss army knife Daryl jerked like a spooked colt and knocked his other teeth hard against the sharp metal tool.

"_Easy!_Rick, hold him still!"

They all thrashed and struggled with one another and Tyreese and Glenn were on their way to help when Rick waved them off. He had to know Daryl was already far beyond his comfort level with the three of them trying to hold him down and good Christ almighty was he glad they weren't about to add two more pairs of grabbing and groping hands into the fray.

He fought with himself even as he fought with them. Family, this was his family. Not walkers, not the Governor or his henchmen, not the Claimers or the Terminus cannibals, not even his old fucking man. This was Bob and Carol and Rick and Daryl knew he was safe with them. They weren't going to hurt him, beat him, bite him, fucking bleed him out and_eat_him. They were gonna help him if he could just let them.

Finally they ended up with Daryl laying flat on his back in the dirt, his head propped up and tilted back against someone's filthy wadded up blanket, and Rick straddling him, pinning his arms and legs against the ground with an altogether surprising and definitely distracting show of strength. The solid heat of the other man on top of him was the only thing keeping him from erupting into a full blown panic and he latched on to that confining but comforting presence. Daryl could barely move if he tried and something about that sent a_very_out of place spark of need curling through his gut.

Rick. His Rick. Who carried the weight of what was left of the goddamn world on his strong shoulders. Rick was here, Rick would keep him safe.

But then Carol was back with the flashlight and Bob was back with the tools and Daryl focused his attention on trying very hard not to scream as Bob slipped the reamer in against the bad tooth and began rocking it back and forth to try and loosen it from the socket.

Despite his best attempts to control himself Daryl couldn't help but try to buck and thrash away from that fire hot agony but Rick's weight held him still. A high pitiful groan slipped past his control instead and he kicked his heel hard against the ground once, then twice.

There was a sickening_pop pop **crack**_and Daryl's stomach lurched.

Rick crooned soft nonsense and rubbed his thumbs against Daryl's trembling wrists in soothing circular motions. He tasted copper in his mouth and his jaw was pounding with the feverish heat of his heartbeat but he focused on Rick.

The other man's tired grey eyes were bright with worry and he was staring at Daryl with an intense focus like he was trying to will the pain away for him. Daryl had endured a lot of hurts in his life but no one had ever looked at him like that, like they wanted to protect him and keep him safe from the world.

Carol handed Bob the pliers but Daryl kept his eyes on Rick.

Until the jaws of the pliers clamped down around his tooth and then he was gagging on a yelp of pain.

Sweat was glistening against Bob's forehead as he rested a knee against Daryl's shoulder for leverage and_pulled_.

"Son of a_bitch_, that's in there good," he swore through gritted teeth.

It took Daryl a moment to realize that he was the one making the pathetic, wounded animal sounds that were filling his ears. Rick pushed him down even harder, tightening his hands in a bruising, vice-like grip around his arms and holding Daryl in place, immobilizing him as he lay all of his weight over him.

There was a brutal pressure that built and built and heat and sharp, pulling agony and then like an eruption there was a sudden wrenching release and Bob damn near fell on his ass as the tooth finally came free. Daryl gasped and immediately choked on the blood that was quickly spilling down the back of his throat but Rick and Carol were pulling him to sit up and slapping him on the back to clear his airway.

"S'ok Daryl, you're alright. Breathe." Rick rubbed at his back after climbing off of him. Daryl immediately missed the warmth and shuddered.

"Goddamn, you've got some big teeth. Look at the roots on that thing!"

Before he could look at Bob and the tooth Carol was urging his mouth back open and as soon as his lips parted more blood came pouring out. Rick was quick to wipe his chin first with the back of his hand and then with a handkerchief from his pocket while Carol pressed on and packed a thick wad of gauze in against the now empty tooth socket.

"Bite down on that and hold it for a while._Gently_. We need to form a clot and we need the clot to stay in otherwise you'll get a dry socket and that is a whole other world of hurt."

Bob wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand as he crouched next to Daryl to peak into his mouth once more and then tilted Daryl's head to the side to look at his jaw. He was still holding the pliers with the tooth clasped firmly in their jaws. It_was_pretty damn gnarly-looking with dark, twisting roots and covered in blood and pus. No wonder he'd felt so shitty with that thing rotting in his mouth.

"So that means no spitting, swishing water, smoking, or sucking anything through a straw for a while, got it?"

Daryl wanted to ask Bob just where the hell he thought he was going to find any smokes much less a fucking_straw_out here but he was in such a daze that he just nodded and let Rick and Bob help him to his feet. He swayed but Rick's arm wrapped around his shoulders and held him steady and he was more than ready to just burrow against that warmth and sleep for a week.

Thank fuck that was over with.

"His jaw's probably gonna swell and bruise but that's to be expected. Make him be still and rest as much as you can. I wish we had some antibiotics for that fever and infection but his system should start to fight it off now that the source of the trouble is gone. You're tough stuff, Daryl but we all knew that already." He grinned and patted Daryl on the arm. Daryl grumbled and nodded his thanks, letting Rick shepherd him towards the blankets he had laid out near the low fire the others were gathered around.

"C'mon lets get you settled in and cleaned up."

Bob walked alongside them, scrubbing Daryl's blood off his hands with a damp rag. "Oh hey Daryl, you want the tooth?" He chuckled at the glare Daryl shot his way and shrugged. "Hey I didn't know! Thought maybe you'd want to make a necklace out of it something. I saw guys do that back—" he was cut off by a bark of laughter that was startled out of Glenn. Bob stared at him in confusion and Glenn's face turned bright red as soon as he realized he had been overheard.

Daryl growled around his mouthful of bloody gauze and shot the younger man a middle finger as he flopped back onto his blanket with a groan.

"Hah-'uckin'-_hah_, 'ickhead."

—

After Rick brought him some water to sip and a damp rag to clean his face and neck off Daryl laid back and drifted in and out of an uneasy doze for a while. It was still early in the evening and there were quiet murmurs around him as the others settled in for the night.

Despite being out in the middle of nowhere with no place to call home, frighteningly few supplies, an aching head and the taste of his own blood still heavy in his mouth Daryl felt safe for the first time in many long days. He'd found his family and was surrounded by them. Rick was sitting on the blanket behind him with his little girl sacked out on in his lap and Michonne and Carl were close by too, murmuring softly about some comic book character. Two of the newest additions to their pack, Tara and Eugene, were sitting next to them, joining in the discussion.

Carol, Bob, and the others were scattered here and there but they were all within a few yards of each other. Against all the odds, they were together again and safe and sound.

A pang of guilt struck him when he thought of how he hadn't been able to bring Beth back to her sister.

There was nothing he could do about that now though. He had to take whatever little victories he could get.

He drifted back to sleep with the meager heat that the small fire smoldering away in its low earth pit threw off warming his legs and Rick's rough fingers stroking through his hair.

A few hours must have passed because when he opened his eyes again it was late. Bright moon and starlight should make it easy for whoever was on watch—Daryl craned his neck and saw Sasha sitting on a log nearby, her back straight and posture alert—to keep an eye out while the others slept.

Daryl's jaw was throbbing but it wasn't that urgent fever bright pain anymore. It was still enough to keep him awake for now so he stared at the dark woods around them and let his thoughts wander, hoping they'd lead him to sleep again. Instead they kept bringing him back to the same place.

Being pinned under Rick.

No pain this time though. No other hands holding him down. No damn audience looking on at them. Just being surrounded by the heat and scent and weight of Rick. The tough as dirt strength in the other man's arms and back and legs that pushed him down, trapped him, and made him feel completely helpless in the face of that raw power.

It startled him just how badly he wanted to feel that way that again.

Weakness had never been a welcome feeling for Daryl. It was something he had fought to actively avoid since he was a damn kid but here he was, unable to think of anything but letting Rick take control of him. Strong, calloused fingers biting into his wrists, the sinewy muscles in the other man's arms solid and unyielding, and lean, muscular legs tangled with his own and holding him down.

Rick claiming his mouth, fucking into it with a hot tongue as he slipped his fingers into Daryl's pants and ground his hard dick against Daryl's ass.

Rick could do anything to him like that and Daryl knew he would let him.

—

Daryl woke up early the next morning to a murder scene on his wadded up blanket that served as a pillow.

A murder scene that he had to peel off of his face.

"Shit."

Considering the amount of blood on the blanket as well as smeared and dried tacky across his face and beard—and hand...and_arm_, jesus christ—he was amazed he even managed to sport the case of insistent morning wood that had him aching.

"_Fuck_."

Rick stirred beside him, blinking and rubbing the sleep from his eyes before squinting up at Daryl in the faint early morning light.

"_Jesus_. You alright?"

Rick. Rick's solid weight and brutal, wiry strength pinning him down against the ground. Rick fucking him open with his hot thick dick and hard, unforgiving thrusts of his hips. Rick growling into his ear that Daryl was_his_.

Daryl's insistent erection pulsed with the thought and he shuddered.

_Fuck_.

"M'fine."

"Hey c'mon, we need to get you cleaned up." Rick sat up with a soft groan that was quickly followed by thick silence. Daryl watched him as he frowned and then followed his gaze down to the ring of bruises around Daryl's wrist.

"I'm sorry about that," Rick murmured softly, stroking his thumb against the discolored skin and making Daryl's hair stand on end.

He jerked at Rick's touch and the other man's look of confusion and concern made him feel like shit.

"Really Rick, m'fine. Go on back to sleep. I'm gonna clean up then I'll do the same." Daryl leaned over to reach the bottle of water Rick had brought him earlier, dampened the rag he kept in his back pocket, and started scrubbing at the dried blood smeared across his skin.

Rick made sure Judith was still tucked her blanket and then moved to sit down on his knees front of Daryl, easing the rag from his grip and using it to gently wipe at the blood matted in Daryl's beard. He was careful around Daryl's swollen jaw and followed the trail of tacky rust red down his throat with a tenderness that made Daryl's chest tighten.

After dabbing away a streak of blood on Daryl's adam's apple Rick caught his eye. "How're you feeling? Really?"

He swallowed hard, fighting a grimace when his tongue tried to probe into the empty space in his mouth. "Better'n I was. Don't feel sick anymore, just sore."

Rick nodded and picked up one of Daryl's hands, wiping it clean with that same careful touch before moving on to the next one.

Rick was a kind man. Gentle with his children and those he loved—gentle with Daryl—but Daryl knew the raw brutality concealed in that lean body. He had killed men with his bare hands, cradled his daughter in those same hands, had kissed Daryl breathless with those chapped lips, ripped out a man's throat with his teeth, held Daryl down with that unmovable, unyielding strength.

Daryl's dick chose that moment to remind him of its presence, jerking with a pulse of interest and he did his best to inconspicuously hunch in on himself to keep it out of sight.

The movement didn't go unnoticed though. He glanced up and those damn all-knowing, swallow you whole blue eyes stared him down and Daryl knew Rick could see right through him. The bastard'd had a knack for that from day one.

"I can give ya a hand with that too, you know." Rick's voice was a low, quiet rumble that Daryl felt more than heard and it sent the hair on the back of his neck to standing up.

He wanted nothing more than to have Rick push him down and have his way with him. Christ, the fierce need he had to feel that way again was starting to scare him but he'd let his guard down enough in the last twenty-four hours and Rick didn't need a weak partner. He needed someone strong, someone that had his back.

"Maybe later. Not really feeling up to that right now."

Rick snorted softly and Daryl's face flushed when he realized what he'd said. He swore and sputtered but Rick just pulled him close and rested their foreheads together.

"S'alright, Daryl. I'm here whenever you need me. Whatever you need me for. I ain't goin' anywhere."

Daryl knew he meant it. Now he just had to work up the courage to go for what he wanted.

—

The next day, late in the afternoon after hours and hours of hiking through the miserably humid heat and dodging walkers left and right, they stumbled across an abandoned cabin tucked in the middle of the woods.

It was a trophy hunter's wet dream of a cabin. Built with thick rough beams and logs, the interior was packed full of dusty, moth-eaten taxidermy mounts and fading photos of the men with the animals shortly after the kill. The place was obviously built by someone who had more money than sense but Christ was it a welcome sight. It had a couple of bedrooms, a pantry with a fair amount of supplies, a living room with a fucking enormous flatscreen and a stack of games and dvds that had Carl, Michonne, Tara, and Eugene all sighing forlornly, but best of all, the cabin and about a quarter of an acre of land around it was surrounded by a fence made out of old railroad ties and stone.

The fence had some damage and it wouldn't hold against a herd of walkers but it was enough to let them catch their breath for a day or so.

It was nearly sundown by the time they finished repairing the gaps in the fence with lumber they found in a shed behind the house and planks pulled up from the floor of the cabin's wrap-around porch.

The entire time they worked Abraham went on and on about going to Washington DC and Daryl quickly became sick to death of hearing ginger nuts try to recruit them all for a mission his gut told him was BS.

He knew Rick was considering it though, very seriously if that faraway, contemplative look in his eyes was anything to go by, and Daryl knew he'd follow the other man wherever he went. That's all that concerned Daryl about the matter.

Right now, there was another matter eating away at him.

Daryl took first watch. He needed time to think.

He sat on the edge of what remained of the deck, his feet dangling above the ground and kicking back against the lattice work underpinning.

All things considered Daryl felt a hell of a lot better already. Sure his entire jaw was still swollen and stained bright blue and purple to match the shiner he still carried from Joe and his group of scumbags and he felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to his face a couple of times but that wasn't an unfamiliar feeling for him. The worst of it though, that shitty, fevered heat under his skin that he'd been struggling against for days was gone.

He had a different kind of fevered heat under his skin now though.

He couldn't fucking understand it and it was pissing him off. There had been several times, far too fucking many times in his life where he'd lost the upperhand in a fight and ended up in that same position. Pinned down, immobilized, and he almost always ended up getting the shit beat out of him. Terror had always been what filled his gut in those situations, not that slow as molasses coil of heat that settled in his belly now whenever he thought about having Rick over him again.

They had gotten into all sorts of positions together back at the prison. On each other's bunks, in the guard tower, in the showers, hell even up against Rick's little garden shed that one time until Michonne's horse got wind of their shenanigans and leaned over the fence to try and eat Daryl's hair. But regardless of the positions they took, Rick had seemed to know without ever being told to never corner Daryl, to not bear down on him without giving him an escape route. Daryl had always silently appreciated that respect for his space but now he found himself wanting something altogether different.

Seemed like his subconscious was telling him it was time to take it a step further. Plunge a little deeper into that total trust he held with Rick.

The cabin's front door creaked loudly on its hinges and a pair of cowboy boots thud-thud-thudded across the porch towards Daryl. They stopped beside him.

"You need to talk to me."

Daryl snorted and stood up on the ground below the porch, turning to face Rick. "Done told you already that m'fine."

Rick didn't back down. Daryl knew he wouldn't.

There was a soft thud and a crunch of leaves as Rick stepped down off the porch and closed the distance between himself and Daryl. "Don't do that. Not to me."

There was a commotion in the house and an eruption of laughter at Eugene's expense from the sound of it. Rick glanced up a the windows before herding Daryl back into the shadows along the side of the cabin. Daryl growled at the hovering but Rick ignored him and kept pushing.

"I'm sorry about the other day. About forcing you down like that. I got carried away but I was worried about you moving at the wrong moment while Bob had that knife in your mouth."

"Rick. It's fine."

"No it's not. And I need you to not shut me out, not now and not ever, Daryl. All the hell we've survived, all the hell I know you've been through, it's not—"

"_Do it again._" He spat the words out so fast they sounded like a hoarse cough.

Rick stared at him, brow creased in confusion. "What?"

"I._Fuck_. I liked it, alright? You holdin' me down like that. It felt…good."

Rick had seen him more exposed and vulnerable than anyone else ever had. He knew he could trust the man with his life and why should this be any different? He could sure as hell trust him with his secrets. Trust him to understand and not to tease. To take care of him.

And sure enough, Rick didn't laugh or mock, but instead looked thoughtful.

"You liked that?" He reached for Daryl's wrist, brushing the backs of his knuckles against the discolored flesh with a barely there touch that stirred goosebumps to life on Daryl's arms.

"Not the tooth-pulling part,_fuck no_. Or the everybody else watching us part. Don't mind the bruises or nothing but it was just having you over me like that got me thinking, maybe we could try something like that some time."

That brought a slow, easy smile to Rick's lips and his eyes were bright in the darkness as he met Daryl's gaze.

"Something like that, huh?"

"Yeah, something like that you smart ass." Daryl growled and reached out to snag Rick by the back of his skull, pulling him in for a rough kiss. Rick chuckled against his lips and let Daryl lead the kiss for a few sweet moments.

When they broke apart Rick leaned close to rest his forehead against Daryl's. Daryl breathed in his warm breath as it left his lungs and nuzzled against the side of the other man's nose with a sigh.

"How the hell do you do that?"

"Do what?

"Make everything seem so easy."

Rick pulled back with a slow, dark smirk. "This ain't gonna be easy. I'm gonna make you work for it." He bared his teeth in a grin and wrapped his fingers around Daryl's hip bones, walking him back until his spine was pressed against the rough lumber of the cabin's exterior wall.

Rick crowded up close against him, arms coming up to cage Daryl back against the side of the cabin. He waited for the panic to come, and there was the faintest spark of it stirring in his gut but it was snuffed out by the coil of need that warmed his belly as Rick pushed closer until their bodies were flush together. Heat was stirring his dick to life and he could feel Rick's own heavy length pressing against his hip through filthy layers of denim and fabric.

He breathed Rick in, the tang of old sweat and the sweet coppery smell of dried blood sharp in his nostrils but it was primal, fucking animalistic and it only served to increase the urgency of the lust heating his blood.

He leaned in for another kiss and Rick answered with sharp teeth on his lips before he pulled back with a teasing grin and eyes sparking with mischief.

Then Daryl's world shifted as Rick pounced, knocking him to the ground and pinning him down on his belly.

Daryl swore and snarled and Rick chuckled, bearing more of his weight down. "Told ya it wasn't gonna be easy."

Daryl bucked against him, just to see if he could. Rick didn't give an inch and reprimanded the outburst by pushing him flat to the ground with a low growl that Daryl felt shoot right to his dick. He groaned and squirmed.

"Come on then."

"Y'know, it's a shame I don't have my cuffs anymore. Then again, they wouldn't do for this." Rick squeezed Daryl's wrists hard and the warm damp heat of Rick's breath—and then his tongue— brushing against the shell of his ear made him shudder.

"Nah for this we'd need something a little softer. Leather or some nice smooth rope would work."

"_Rick_," he whined into the dirt, arching his spine and pressing his ass back against Rick's groin like a needy bitch in heat.

"That sound good to you, darlin'?"

"Rick, I just—I just want you." Daryl hated the tremble in his voice and he squeezed his eyes shut tight, wishing Rick would stop the teasing, stop making his cheeks flush with heat and making his chest tighten.

Rick hummed in confusion and Daryl felt the vibrations shudder like frantic butterflies in his belly.

"I just…don't need none of that stuff. Don't want it like that. Just want you, like this."

Silence and stillness for a moment. Then Rick's warm weight was slowly eased down across his back and thighs. Daryl closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the dried leaves scattered across the earth under him as he tried to will himself to pull in slow, steady breaths. That didn't last once rough, calloused but gentle fingers were sliding under him, fumbling for his belt and unhooking it then easing Daryl's fly down. He pressed his palm flat and spread fingers against Daryl's belly in a reassuring squeeze before raising up enough to drag Daryl's pants and underwear down his hips in one quick movement.

He pressed a hand between Daryl's shoulder blades as a reminder to stay still.

"Kick your boots off."

Daryl obeyed and was rewarded with a hot mouth trailing along his back and hips and Rick quickly finished disrobing his lower half.

They were out in the great wide open, nothing but the cover of night and a little fence between them and a world of nightmares and Daryl was sprawled in the dirt with his bare ass in the air. It was reckless and damn foolish but he didn't care. Weeks of death and destruction had passed since the last time he had been with Rick like this and he needed the other man_right fucking now._

Still, it always paid to play it safe. He glanced over at his crossbow that he'd set against the porch to make sure it was within arms reach.

He was distracted by the snap of a plastic cap and he heard the slick sounds of Rick squeezing some of the lubricant onto his fingers, rubbing them together to warm it up before pushing them between Daryl's ass cheeks.

It was still cool enough to make Daryl hiss at the first touch of it to his sensitive skin. "The hell'd you find that?"

"In the bathroom. Figured we might get some good out of it."

"You figured that, huh?"

Rick snorted and braced himself on one forearm pressed hard against the small of Daryl's back while his other hand began working Daryl open. Daryl was impatient, his mouth was starting to ache again and he was eager for Rick to distract him.

"Come on, more. I ain't gonna break."

Sharp teeth bit into his spine where his shirt had ridden up and he groaned.

But Rick didn't make him wait, must know he needed this so fucking bad and then there were two slick fingers fucking him open and his breath started coming faster. He panted against the grass below his cheek and Rick scissored his fingers wide then curled them inward, looking for just the right spot.

He found it pretty damn quick and Daryl buried his face in his arm to muffle the high groan that stuttered past his lips.

Once Rick knew he had the right spot he was relentless. He loomed over Daryl as he fucked him open with clever, far too damn talented fingers that brought Daryl right up to the edge before he'd ease off and settle back into a slower, more teasing rhythm just to do it all over again.

And by the time Daryl was bucking back against him, growling with impatience and annoyance, Rick finally got the hint and pulled his hand free and started undoing his belt and the fly of his jeans.

Daryl tried to roll over and help, wanted to get his hands on some of that hot skin and get a little teasing of his own in but Rick shoved him back down and slapped him hard on the ass in warning. Daryl yelped but couldn't help pushing back for more.

Cool slick was drizzled down the crease of his ass and he felt the thick, heavy heat of Rick's cock pushing against him, gliding with shallow, teasing thrusts through the excess lube. Daryl bit his lower lip and rocked his hips back, arching his spine in an attempt to encourage Rick to hurry the fuck up.

"What do you want, Daryl?" Rick lapped at a bead of sweat that was sliding down Daryl's shoulder and Daryl could just see the damn smirk he knew the other man was wearing.

Bastard.

"You."

"You've got me. I'm right here." Rick pressed harder against him to make his point, his dick slick and hot against Daryl's ass. So fucking close.

Daryl felt his face flushing scarlet but he played along, hoping it would get him what he wanted. "I want your dick."

"You've got that too." Rick chuckled and ground his hips against Daryl's ass and the younger man groaned in frustration.

"I want your dick_in me_._Now_, you fucking tease."

Rick leaned low and nipped at Daryl's ear as he reached down to guide the head of his prick to Daryl's slicked open hole. Daryl breathed out slow and steady, arching his back and doing his best to relax as Rick came into him inch by inch.

It was slow, Rick taking his time and making sure to give Daryl a chance to adjust to the stretch. But at the insistent buck of Daryl's hips once he was fully sheathed within him Rick was off and quick to build up to to a rough, fast pace that had Daryl gasping his appreciation.

With the older man sprawled out against him, holding in place with lean, wiry muscles as he fucked him, Daryl felt that same sense of willing surrender that he'd experience a few days before with Rick on top of him. That surprising power that stirred a flutter of need and_take me I'm yours_that struck Daryl to his core.

_Fuck_.

Rick surged against him like a force of nature. Daryl knew he was at the mercy of that strength and his heart was pounding with the thrill of it.

He couldn't move, couldn't rock back to meet Rick's thrusts or get his hand under himself to wrap it around his own cock. He was trapped, pinned by the weight of his man and it was honest to fucking god the hottest damn thing he had ever experienced in his life.

And even if he couldn't touch his aching dick he knew he wasn't going to last much longer.

He was right at the edge, right fucking_there_and then Rick pulled back, pulled_out_, and Daryl gasped at the sudden unsettling emptiness.

"Wh-what? What the_fuck_, you son of a bitch."

Rick's laugh was more of a growl and he held Daryl still as he struggled and swore. Once he seemed sure enough of his grip he flipped Daryl over onto his back and pushed his legs back until they rested against Daryl's chest, nearly bending him in half before urging one of Daryl's legs up over his shoulder. Daryl automatically tightened the other against Rick's side.

"Wanted to see your face. Fuck you're gorgeous like this Daryl."

Rick added more lube to his dick before guiding the hot length of it back into Daryl and he barely had time to be embarrassed by Rick's words before the other man was pounding into him again, fucking the breath right out of him.

"You're gorgeous and you're_mine_."

Daryl's hands scrabbled for purchase on Rick's arms, his still-clothed shoulders, digging his fingernails into anything that could ground him, make him feel like he wasn't about to be obliterated by the mind-wrecking sensations that were lighting his nerves on fire.

Rick kissed at Daryl's gasping lips and tightened his already bruising grip on the younger man's hip to pull him into his thrusts. Daryl could feel the color bleeding into his skin under Rick's fingertips and he turned his head to try and smother his groan against Rick's sweaty shoulder where the collar of his shirt had slipped down.

The pace Rick set was intense. Deep and fast and with his weight baring down on Daryl he couldn't get enough air to think, to keep up, to do anything but be completely and utterly possessed by his man. And it was too fucking good. He wanted to shout and swear and howl but instead settled for sinking his teeth into Rick's hot skin. That inspired a deep, grinding thrust of hips that pushed Rick's dick in rough and unyielding and Daryl did shout then but Rick was quick to silence him with a hard, biting kiss. Daryl broke the kiss to tip his head back and moan when Rick let go of his hip to reach down and wrap his hand around Daryl's precome slick dick.

"Next place we find with a spare bed, with a door, some goddamn_privacy_, I'm gonna spread you out on it and take you apart. Fuck you for hours, make you come so many times you'll be shooting dry by the time I'm done with you." Rick panted against his open lips and gave a few especially rough twists of his hips that shoved his dick right up against Daryl's prostate again and again.

And just like that, Daryl's orgasm crashed into him with such an intensity that he was damn sure he wouldn't survive it.

But Rick was right there, caught him, held him close and kept up the rolling of his hips just enough to finish himself off with a low groan muffled against Daryl's hair as he worked Daryl through the end of his own climax.

Once the heaving of their chests slowed, Rick eased Daryl's leg down from his shoulder and nuzzled in against his throat to press a sucking kiss to the flushed skin there. Daryl shuddered at the possessive marking of his flesh and Rick crooned against his neck.

"So something like that, yeah?"

Daryl snorted a tired laugh and yanked on a none too gentle handful of Rick's curls.

"Yeah, something like that alright, you smart ass."

He bit Rick's lower lip then deepened the kiss to swallow the other man's low chuckle and appreciative moan.

There, out in the open with the stars and trees staring down at them, with his tongue in Rick's mouth while his own sore mouth throbbed with a dull but healing ache, with Rick's weight pressing him down heavily against the ground and the dry, late summer grass prickling against his bare ass, Daryl found a peace he hadn't felt in a long time.

He knew he could sleep like the dead right there under Rick's protective warmth. But soon they would have to get up, get dressed, go back to the others in the cabin and start making plans for what was to come next. Soon they would be on the road again, danger and death around every corner, but that was his life with Rick Grimes and he wouldn't trade it for what was left of the world.

Meanwhile…

"Hey Eugene there's some food ready if you're…the_hell_are you standing in the dark for?"

The scientist startled violently, nearly knocking a rack of deer antlers off the wall in his surprise before he spun around to face Tara, using his body to shield the window he had been staring out.

The very fogged up window he had been staring out.

Tara arched a brow and narrowed her eyes in suspicion."What are you looking at?"

Eugene cleared his throat.

"Nothing I think you would have any interested in based on your…proclivities."

They stared one another down for a moment before Tara was bounding across the room and Eugene was struggling to push her away from the window. He was no match for her though and soon she got an eyeful of just what he had been leering at.

"_Oh_. Huh. Well, I wouldn't have thought that that would interest you based on your_proclivities_either."

"I'm secure enough in my own sexuality to be able to appreciate all forms of the human anatomy. Male, female, everything in between. Essentially, I guess you could say that I'll take what I can get."

"That's…strangely cool of you."

"Thank you."

"It's also pretty damn creepy though."

"Well I notice you're still looking out."

Tara shrugged and stepped back from the window. "Yeah well, looks like I missed the good part anyway."

Eugene's lips twitched as he did his best to fight back a smirk. "That you did."

He yelped when Tara punched him on the arm and shoved him out of the room.

END


End file.
